Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Film Ireland Review Round-Up Part 1

Shameless Plug

While I am still fully committed to updating this blog with random musings people might accidentally read when googling comedy films or torrent sites, I have also started contributing occasional reviews to Film Ireland website. Mostly, it's nice to get published on a site of such good repute and to get access to glorious, glorious press screenings. It also means that I occasionally get to see films I would never have actually paid to see in the cinema, and praise / harshly critique them accordingly. I never wanted to see Resident Evil: Retribution, but I had such fun writing a scathing review afterwards that it was totally worth suffering through it in three frickin' dimensions.

I have provided links to my reviews thus far below, ranging from small Irish films about watches to gothic family stop motion. Hope you enjoy 'em :)

A Simple Life This is a subtlety observed drama that only irregularly feels lazily
sentimental (a twinkly, over-emotive but – thankfully – infrequently
utilised musical score is a main culprit in that regard). It’s an
intelligent character study, with the emotional bond between Roger and
Ah Tao delicately realised and uninterrupted by contrivances. Indeed,
several of the film’s most dramatic events occur off-screen, with some
sequences taking place after considerable chronological jumps. Hui is
instead brave enough to allow the affecting friendship speak for itself,
with an unobtrusive visual style keeping the focus squarely on the
characters.

My BrothersThe road trip movie at My Brothers’ core is mildly
diverting, but rarely feels vital or particularly original. The
interactions between the three brothers are handled with care and
affection, but they’re neither funny nor dramatic enough to truly leap
off the screen. The performances are good – Courtney particularly
achieves a lot with a role that could easily have drifted towards
stereotyping – but the characters feel somewhat underwritten. Noel
particularly comes across as inconsistently realised (although one could
argue that’s appropriate for a directionless seventeen year-old), while
some of the minor characters are massively underused over the very lean
running time. The plot itself is contrived, with few of the
complications experienced by the siblings proving particularly
surprising or insightful. The road trip structure has regularly been the
foundation for great cinema, yet My Brothers struggles to match the humour or pathos of the best the ‘genre’ has to offer.

The Three Stooges It’s a shame Sasso, Hayes and Diamantopoulos have so little to work
with, as with a bit more effort the Farrellys could have given them the
script their enthusiasm deserves. There’s a few light chuckles here and
there, including a decent dynamite gag and a running joke about Curly’s
hair. But there was not a single belly laugh in the screening I
attended, which is a fairly damning indication of the film’s minimal
comedic value.

Anton Corbijn - Inside OutAn inherent problem with documentaries such as this is that there’s a
tendency to have interviewees endlessly wax lyrical about the subject.
While there’s certainly a few moments of superstars praising Corbijn’s
talents – including Wim Butler, Bono, James Hetfield and George Clooney –
the film largely resists the temptation of repetitive hyperbole and
takes a more observant approach. Barring the multitude of conversations
with Corbijn himself, the interviews largely take place within the
locations where Corbijn is working. The filmmakers talk to Bono while
Corbijn waits for a Polaroid to develop on Sandycove beach, and Clooney
in between takes on The American set. It’s an approach that
works well, and throughout the documentary director Klaartje Quirijns
allows us to simply observe Corbijn’s working habits without redundant
running commentary.

Resident Evil - RetributionThe acting is uniformly dreadful. It’s unfair to pick one cast member
out for particular criticism, but Sienna Guillory impressively cannot even
convince as a brainwashed & monotone automaton. Also, it is
staggering how long it takes the other characters to figure out that
removing that glowing red mind control gem from Valentine’s chest might
be a good idea. If the good guys in this film were playing the superb Resident Evil 4, they wouldn’t have gotten past the first boss.

Frankenweenie (Mislabeled at time of posting) The film’s wide-eyed, stop-motion style will draw inevitable comparisons with The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride.
In many ways, though, it’s more of a companion piece with Ed Wood
(arguably Burton’s masterpiece). Aesthetically, the comparison is most
obvious – they both have crystal clear black & white cinematography,
and they’re equally well-versed in the style and iconography of mid
twentieth century low-budget horror films.